Sink and float solids separators



July 14, 1959 R. TEUTEBERG 2,894,629

SINK AND FLOAT SOLIDS SEPARATORS Filed March 5, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 14, 1959 R. TEUTEBERG 2,394,629

SINK A ND FLOAT SOLIDS SEPARATORS Filed March 5. 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 14,1959 R. TEUTEBERG 2,894,629

' SINK AND FLOAT SOLIDS SEPARATORS Filed March 5, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Uite States Patent SINK AND FLOAT SOLIDS SEPARATORS Rudolf Teuteberg, Dortmund, Germany, assignor to Schuchtermann & Krerner-Baum Aktiengesellschaft fur Aufhereitung, a corporation of Germany Application March 5, 1956, Serial No. 569,435 Claims priority, application Germany March 10, 1955 14 Claims. (Cl. 209-1725) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sink separators. The invention more particularly relates to an improved sink separator for the separation of mixtures of divided solid materials as, for example, the working up of minerals such as finely granular coal in accordance with the float and sink method in a heavy liquid.

The separation of mixtures of divided solid materials in accordance with their specific gravity and in accordance with the float and sink method using a heavy liquid is well known. In accordance with this method the solid .material to be separated is placedin a container containing a heavy liquid which has a specific gravity between the specific gravity of the heavy and light components to be separated. The heavy components sink through the heavy liquid and are recovered from the bottom portion thereof whereas the light components float and are recovered from the upper portion of the heavy liquid.

The heavy liquids used for the separation may be in the form of a liquid such as water, which contains finely divided weighting materials as, for example, pyrite, magnetite and sand. In the working up of coal, for example, the specific gravity should lie between the specific gravity of the coal and that of the rock so that the former floats in the heavy liquid while the rock will sink.

Sink separators of the above process basically consisted of a container such as a conically shaped container into which the heavy liquid and the material to be separated could be introduced and from the upper portion of which the separated float material could be removed and from the lower portion of which the separated sink material could be removed.

The preparation of finely granular substances in suspension to form the heavy liquids, however, entailed considerable difliculties. The suspended particles of the weighing material forming the heavy liquid would tend to separate out from the liquid in the container and in order to maintain same in suspension, it was necessary to maintain a flow of the liquid in the separating container. The coarser the particle size of the weighting substances forming the heavy liquid, the stronger would be the liquid flow in the container necessary to prevent separation. On the other hand, the'finer the particle size of the divided solid material being separated, the lower would be the maximum flow velocity at which separation could still occur. For this reason, weighting materials having a very fine particle size were generally preferred in the formation of the heavy liquid. Heavy liquids consisting of suspensions of these finely granular weighting materials, however, had a relatively high viscosity particularly in the case of higher specific gravities. These relatively high viscosity heavy liquids would impede the sinking of the finely granular sink material and would be particularly sensitive to impurities which increase the viscosity and which are introduced into the separating bath in large quantities with the finely granular material being separated. Additionally, large quantities of the Patented July 14, 1959 to the relatively large surface of the finely graniular material being separated and could only be removed therefrom with difliculty as, for example, by spraying. The equipment necessary for the recovery and cleaning of the weighting material suspension is considerable in such cases.

One object of this invention is a sink separator which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and which allows the use of a more coarsely granular Weighting material in the heavy liquid suspension used for the separation of finely granular mixtures, such as in the working up of finely granular coal. This and still further objects will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through an embodiment of-a sink separator in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is 'a cross-section along the lines I-I of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the upper portion of a still further embodiment of a sink separator in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along the line II-II of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the upper portion of a still further embodiment of'a sink separator in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-section along the line III-Ill of Fig. 5.

The sink separator, in accordance with the invention, has a perforated plate in its separating container which extends below the surface of the separating bath, below which the charge material is passed and over which the heavy liquid is fed. The perforated plate preferably rises towards the outlet for the floating material and can be placed into motion by a suitable drive such as an oscillation drive.

The perforated plate defines above the charged material a heavy-liquid sump into which fresh heavy liquid is continuously fed.

From this sump, the heavy liquid feed drops uniformly and with very low velocity through the entire large area of the perforated plate directly into the region of the charging material, passing there-through below the perforated plate.

The speed with which the heavy liquid passes downward through the perforated plate need, in this connection, only slightly exceed the velocity of settling of the weighting material. Since the heavy liquid does not have any opportunity on the short path from the sump into the layer of charging material, to separate, it retains its specific gravity in the region of the layer of the charged material even when a substantially coarser particle size of the heavy substance is selected than was necessary heretofore in the case of fine-particle separation. It is therefore possible, in accordance with the invention, to work up material having a fine particle size with the same weighting suspension as were previously used in working up coarse particle size material.

The moving as, for example, the swinging perforated plate acts directly on the floating material which rests against it due to the buoyancy forces. This has the result that the layer of floating material is loosened, releases sink material enclosed therein and as a result of the upward inclination of the perforated plate and the buoyancy forces, the float material starts moving towards the floating material outlet, without requiring any propelling flows of liquid. The speed of transportation of the floating material can be determined by the selection of the inclination of the perforated plate and/ or of the number of swings of the plate in such a manner as to meet the desired requirements.

Due to the swinging motion of the perforated plate, air

bubbles adhering to the material are detached. They can escape upward without obstacle through the perforated plate. The charging material can therefore be charged into the sink separator even in dry or moist condition Without an excess of heavy liquid so that even upon the charging of the material injurious flows in the separating bath are avoided.

The new sink separator thus makes it possible to work up finely-granular material in a coarselygranular heavy material suspension for all practical purposes in accordance with steady-state principles.

It is known per se to charge the heavy liquid in the case of sink separators above the layer of floating material by means of distributors which are arranged above the surface of the separating bath and which permit the heavy liquid to enter the separating bath by free fall.

In this way, however, it is not possible to obtain a slow uniform descent of the heavy liquid through the entire layer of floating material. The known distributors arranged above the surface of the bath permit the heavy liquid to flow downward only in individual partial streams. These partial streams however upon entering the surface of the separating bath cause strong eddying in the layer of finely-granular floating material, which eddying motion on the one hand, impairs the result of the separation and on the other hand, prevents the forward motion of the layer of floating material to the outlet.

Referring to the embodiments of the subject matter shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in the separating vessel 1 which is filled with heavy liquid, there is arranged below the surface of the heavy liquid, a perforated plate 2. The perforated plate 2 extends over the entire width of the separating vessel and rises from the charging chute 3 of the separating vessel towards its floating-material outlet 4. The perforations of the perforated plate 2 are so small that the charged material which is to be prepared cannot pass through, but on the other hand, sufliciently large that they permit the particles of heavy material of the heavy-material suspension to pass through unimpeded. The charging chute 3 is tubular and discharges below the perforated plate 2 at the lowest end of the latter. The inclined perforated plate 2 defines at the upper part of the separating vessel, a heavy-liquid sump 5. This sump is fed via the pipelines 6, 6' with heavy liquid, the specific gravity and quantity of which is regulated. Impact plates 7, 7 deflect in horizontal direction the heavy liquid fed, destroy its kinetic energy and distribute it over the entire surface of the sump. The heavy liquid fed in this manner sinks uniformly at a very low rate of flow down through the perforated plate 2 into the space below it. The material fed to the charging chute 3 drops below the perforated plate and moves as a result of buoyancy forces towards the floating material outlet 4 within the region of the heavy liquid of exact specific gravity which is dropping down through the perforated plate. Along this path, the heavy components of the charged material sink down in the separating Vessel 1 and are removed from the vessel It through a removal nozzle 8. The floating material passes into the sphere of action of a paddle wheel 9 which conveys it out of the separating vessel into the floating-material outlet.

At the lower end of the separating vessel 1, there are connected pipes 10 through which the heavy liquid is fed to the vessel. The quantity of the heavy liquid introduced here is determined by a regulating valve ll. At the upper end of the separating vessel in the space between the vessel wall and the rear wall of the charging chute 3 there discharges another heavy-liquid inlet 13 which can be regulated by a valve 12. The heavy-liquid inlets lit} and 13 make it possible, depending upon the setting of their regulating valves lll2, to produce in the separating vessel 1 either an upward or downward flow of any desired intensity, without regard to the quantity of heavy liquid fed to the sump through the pipelines 6, 6. Upward flow is produced if more heavy liquid is fed at than can discharge through 8. This makes it possible to convey the suspended material in the separating vessel to the floating material outlet 4 while the downward flow produced by the inlet 13 feeds the suspended material to the removal nozzle 8 for the sinking material. It is very advantageous for the separation if the perforated plate 2 is imparted a swinging motion. The swinging perforated plate acts directly on the floating material which rests against it as a result of buoyancy forces and in this way loosens the layer of floating material so that any heavy material which is enclosed therein can sink unimpededly. Furthermore, it imparts to the layer of floating material an advancing motion which conveys the latter towards the floating-material outlet. When the inclination of the perforated plate and the frequency and amplitude of swing of the perforated plate are suitably selected, the advancing of the layer of floating material is possible without any flows of the heavy liquid which would impair the separation process.

in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the perforated plate 2 forms the bottom of a trough 14 which is swingably suspended on springs 15 and placed in swinging motion by any suitable swinging drive of known construction. Thus, for instance, there may be rotatably supported in trough 14 a shaft 16 which bears counterweights i7 and is placed in rotation by an electric motor 18. By means of such a known swinging, the trough l4 and with it the perforated plate are placed in circular vibrations. The trough 14 clips into the heavy liquid contained in the separating vessel and in this way forms the sump 5. The tubular charging chute 3 is fastened to the swinging trough. Lateral guide plates 19, 19' extend downward beyond the perforated plate and hold the layer of floating material within the region of the perforated plate 2.

in the embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the per forated plate 2 is fastened on two opposed sides in sliding engagement with two longitudinal walls of the separating vessel and carries connected thereto two transverse walls 2%, 21, the wall 21 of which forms at the same time a wall of the tubular charging chute 3. The heavy-liquid sump 5 is defined in the separating vessel it by the transverse walls 20, 21 and the perforated plate 2. The perforated plate 2 is placed in oscillation by a crankdrive consisting of the eccentric 22, the connecting rod 23 and the articulation 24. The crankdrive is driven by the electric motor 25.

A further embodiment of the sink separator is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this case, the perforated plate 2. is developed as a rotating belt, which, as can be noted from Fig. 6, takes up the full width of the separating vessel ll, is guided by the guide rollers 26, 27, 28 and is rotated slowly in the direction indicated by the arrow by the electric motor 29. The heavy liquid sump 5 is in this case located within the loop formed by the perforated belt 2. The stationary charging chute 3 discharges below the perforated belt at the deepest place of the latter. The rotating perforated belt positively conveys the floating material resting against it by buoyancy forces into the region of action of the paddle 9.

I claim:

1. A sink separator comprising a container for heavy liquid defining an outlet for sink material at the bottom portion thereof and an outlet for float material at the upper portion thereof, partition means defining a multiple number of openings therethrough positioned in the upper portion of said container below the normal liquid level thereof, inlet means for passing divided material to be separated into said container below said partition means, and at least one inlet conduit for heavy liquid terminating in said container above said partition means and below the normal liquid level of said container.

2. Sink separator according to claim 1 in which said outlet for float material is on one side portion of said container and said inlet means is at an opposed side portion of said container, said partition means extending from said inlet means in an upwardly inclined direction toward said outlet for float material.

3. Sink separator according to claim 2 including means for imparting limited motion to said partition means.

4. Sink separator according to claim 3 in which said container has a narrowing cross section from the upper portion thereof toward said outlet for sink material.

5. Sink separator according to claim 4 in which said outlet for float material is an overflow outlet.

6. Sink separator according to claim 5 including means for deflecting heavy liquid from said inlet conduit for heavy liquid in a horizontal flow direction.

7. Sink separator according to claim 1 in which said partition means is in the form of a perforated plate connected to and extending across the cross-section of a trough having an open top and bottom and swingably mounted in said container, and including means for imparting a swinging motion to said trough.

8. Sink separator according to claim 7 in which said inlet means is in the form of an inlet conduit connected on one side of said trough and terminating below said perforated plate, said outlet for float material being positioned at a side of said container opposite said inlet means with said perforated plate extending theretoward in an upwardly inclined direction.

9. Sink separator according to claim 8 in which said container has a narrowing cross-section from the upper portion thereof toward said outlet of sink material, said outlet for float material comprising an overflow outlet, said inlet conduit for heavy liquid terminating within said trough and including means for deflecting the flow of heavy liquid passed therethrough in a horizontal direction, and including an auxiliary inlet for heavy liquid at the lower portion of said container and a further auxiliary inlet for heavy liquid at the upper portion of said container.

10. Sink separator according to claim 1 in which said partition means is in the form of a perforated plate swingably mounted in said container with said inlet means in the form of an inlet conduit being connected to one side thereof terminating therebelow, said outlet for float material being positioned at the opposite side of said container with said perforated plate extending theretoward in an upwardly inclined direction, and including means for imparting swinging motion to said plate.

11. Sink separator according to claim 10 in which said container has a narrowing cross-section from the upper portion thereof toward said outlet for sink material, said outlet for float material being in the form of an overflow outlet, and including means for deflecting heavy liquid being passed through said inlet conduit for heavy liquid in a horizontal flow direction.

12. Sink separator according to claim 1 in which said partition means is defined by a portion of a rotatably mounted endless perforated belt, and including means for rotating said belt.

13. Sink separator according to claim 12 in which said inlet means and said outlet for float material are positioned on opposite sides of said container with a portion of said endless belt extending in an upwardly inclined direction from said inlet means toward said outlet for float material, the remaining portion of said endless belt extending from said first-mentioned portion above the same in said container above the normal liquid level of said container, said inlet conduit for heavy liquid extending within said endless belt.

14. Separator according to claim 13 in which said outlet for float material in an overflow outlet and including means for deflecting heavy liquid passed through said inlet for heavy liquid in a horizontal flow direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,966,609 Chance July 17, 1934 2,196,451 Holzer Apr. 9, 1940 2,356,648 Brusset Aug. 22, 1944 2,603,352 Tromp July 15, 1952 2,631,726 Auer Mar. 17, 1953 2,670,078 Davis Feb. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 900,693 France Aug. 25, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,cEnnFIcAT 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 2,894,629 July 14, 1959 v Rudolf Teuteberg I I It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected-below,

In the grant, lines 2 and 3, and lines 12 and 13, and in the heading to the printed, specification, lines 4 and 5, name of assignee, for "Schfichtermarm & Kramer-Baum Alstiengesellschaft fur Aufhereitung",' each occurrence, read Schuchtermann & Kremer-=-Baum Aktiengesellschaft fu'r Auibereitung column 1, line 51, for "Weighing" read Weighting column 6, line 28, .for "in an" read is an Signed and sealed this lst day of December 1959.

(SEAL) Atfiest:

KARL I-I AXLINE ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Officer 4 Conmissioner of'Patents 

